By Wendy Anders The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly voted in favor of legislation to protect animal welfare yesterday. The President’s press office reported that the law, Ley #18,298 (Bienestar Animal), has received unconditional support from the executive branch, which has already started to implement actions along these lines The law stipulates sanctions against anyone who physically h...

By Wendy Anders Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís signed into effect a citizen monitoring project to aid in protecting the country’s natural resources, stated the executive branch press office today. The volunteers will support the country’s national conservation area system (SINAC) in their work overseeing the country’s 160 protected areas of which 28 are national parks. Residen...

By Wendy Anders Crocodile Man Tour at the Tarcoles River near Jaco, Costa Rica In the wake of Friday’s crocodile attack of a Colorado surfer at Tamarindo beach in Costa Rioca’s northern Guanacaste province, legislators and tourist businesses are again clamoring for the government to manage the animals. The reptiles thrive in the warm, shallow waters of river mouths and mangrove swamps that d...

By Wendy Anders What might possibly be the largest of the recent Turrialba volcano eruptions started at 7:22 this morning, according to the National University's Volcanology and Seismology Observatory (Ovsicori-UNA). A photo on their site shows a cloud of ash reaching nearly 3,000m. The blast caused tremors that were felt by nearby residents. A Facebook follower in Alto de las Palomas, Es...

Areli Arevalo FacebookA powerful mid-afternoon eruption of the Turrialba volcano, currently the most active in Costa Rica, opened new vents in the crater, which suggests that a new caldera could form in the future. According to geologists from the Observatory of Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI), the eruption took place at 3:42 pm on a cloudy Friday afternoon...

Source: MSPOfficers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, evacuated a section of Tamarindo Beach after a visitor from the United States was mutilated by a terrible bite from a large reptile. The incident took place on Monday morning near the estuary of this Costa Rica coastal community, which is very popular among North American and European tourists and expats. The vi...

Source: ECSUIn the wee hours of May 22, 13 Eastern biology students and biology professors Patricia Szczys and Matthew Graham trekked to the rainforest of Costa Rica to experience a 12-day trip they had been preparing for since January. The students had spent the spring semester in groups of three and four students each reading scientific literature and preparing research proposals for studies...

Although most of the terrestrial world is covered in trees, there are precious few vertebrates that make the canopy their home and subsist solely on a diet of leaves. Tree sloths are among the most emblematic tree-dwelling mammals. However, they are best known for their pokey demeanor rather than the fact that they spend the majority of their lives in trees munching leaves. But the slow motion...

By Wendy Anders Last night around 10:30 a 2.9 magnitud quake was felt and also heard throughout some southern and most western San José districts. People in Ciudad Colón, Santa Ana, and Pavas, Guácima de Alajuela, Escazú, San Juan de Dios in Desamparados, Palmichal de Acosta, Belén, and as far as downtown Alajuela reported feeling the quake, stated the Volconology and Seismology Observatory ...

By Wendy Anders Multiple institutions worked together to build a coastal monitoring station, Estación Cipancí, to strengthen protection, sustainable use, and monitoring of the waters, communities, and beaches in the Gulf of Nicoya, officials announced yesterday. The station will support joint environmental and socio-economic projects to be carried out by the National Conservation Areas Syste...

By Wendy Anders Source: U.S. Embassy   During a routine round along the Caribbean coast this morning at 2:00 am, Costa Rica coast guard officials found a giant leatherback sea turtle tied up, ostensibly to later be killed. They released the animal, which had been tied up at Barra de Pacuare, a coastal village in between Tortuguero National Park and Limón port town. Police and coast guard a...

By Wendy Anders The hugely-liked online animal lovers’ The Dodo recently published a report by two veterinarians on the “nightmares” they witnessed while working at the Cahuita, Limón-based Sloth Sanctuary. Overgrown nails from the lack of trees to climb, overgrown canines from an improper diet, miscarriages by stressed females sloths, fighting among crowded animals, and severe medical negle...

Source: MSPA disarmingly cute newborn jaguarundi, sometimes called an eyra cat, was rescued by officers from Fuerza Publica (the national police force of Costa Rica) on Friday afternoon. The rescue took place in Gamalotal, a rural district of Nicoya in the province of Guanacaste. According to an official press released issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the wild kitten was actually fo...

By Wendy Anders Tax inspection police discovered two spotted, wriggling banana lizards this morning in a review of courier packages arriving from outside Costa Rica at the Juan Santamaría Airport in Alajuela. “This is the first time live animals have been found entering the country via a courier service. We are concerned not only about the fact that animals are being shipped between countrie...

Source: UC Blue Ash College By Pete Gemmer Saving a damaged sea turtle nest along the coast of Costa Rica was among a few of the life-changing activities students enjoyed this summer as part of two study abroad trips hosted by the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College. The Costa Rica Study Abroad trip was based on the Osa Peninsula, home to about 3 percent of the world’s biodiversity...

By Wendy Anders At 11:25 Friday night, police checking vehicles on the San Jose-Caribbean Route 32 found a surprise tucked in the trunk of one car. A newborn three-toed sloth was discovered in a cardboard box during a routine stop-and-search operation near the Zurqui Tunnel. The vehicle’s owner, of the last name Chávez and resident of Atenas, Alajuela, was heading towards San José from Si...

BioNovelus BioNovelus, Inc.  is pleased to announce the results of its biodegradable fungicide, CR-10, after six months of Coffee Rust testing in Costa Rica. CoopeAgri R.L, one of the largest cooperative in Costa Rica, has released the CR-10 performance data. The results show that eco-friendly CR-10 has not only brought the coffee rust to a level of 0% in all the tested coffee plantations, ...

Wikimedia Commons Peruvian scientist Marino Morikawa, who "revived" polluted wetlands in 15 days using nanotechnology, now plans to try to clean up Lake Titicaca and the Huacachina lagoon, an oasis in the middle of the desert. El Cascajo, an ecosystem of roughly 50 hectares (123 acres) in Chancay district, located north of Lima, began its recovery in 2010 with two inventions that Morikawa c...

Wikimedia Commons One of the most popular Costa Rica volcanoes in terms of tourism is going through a renewed period of activity to the delight of visitors. A recent time-lapse video captured by a camera near the crater of the Poas was posted to the Facebook Timeline of the Observatory of Seismology and Volcanology of the National University of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI). In the...

By Wendy Anders In a historic victory for the environmental movement in Costa Rica, a broad coalition of local residents, politicians, environmentalists and others hailed today’s decision by the Los Chiles Municipality to halt expansion of pineapple production for five years. The Northern Region where Los Chiles is located is home to 47 per cent of Costa Rica’s pineapple production with 17,8...

Source: Wooster Surfboards Costa Rica Surfers from the United States visiting Costa Rica rescued a dolphin calf that had become stranded on the beach and separated from its mother. The rescue was witnessed by a shaper from Wooster Surfboards Costa Rica, and it was also captured on video and posted to the Facebook Timeline of the National Surfing Federation. The surfers self-identified with ...

Wikimedia Commons Conservationists are uniting against a weak silky shark conservation proposal put forth by Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The proposal along with others will be presented at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)* to be held next week in Southern California. Turtle Island Restoration Network and fellow conservationists be...

Poas Volcano crater in Costa Rica Earth scientists at the National Seismology Network (Spanish initials: RSN) and at the National Observatory on Seismology and Volcanology (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI) are being kept on their toes by the activity of two colossi in Costa Rica. Readers of The Costa Rica Star are likely to be familiar with the hyperactive state of the Turrialba volcano, located ...

Bionovelus Phoenix, June 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioNovelus, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: ONOV) is pleased to announce that four thousand (4,000) bottles of its biodegradable fungicide, CR-10, the answer to killing coffee rust, has been manufactured for delivery to Costa Rica. Mr. Jean Ekobo, President/CEO of BioNovelus, Inc., says, "This CR-10 allotment is slotted for ongoing tests with our partne...

Zoo Ave A brightly colored male toucan that suffered a mutilated beak after being attacked by thuggish youths in Costa Rica is getting a new home in Alajuela. Wildlife rescue experts at Rescate Animal Zoo Ave, located in La Garita, recently announced that Grecia will be housed in a new enclosure where it will have plenty of room to fly around, climb branches, hide, enjoy the sun, feed, prac...

(Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica) - The Sloth Institute (TSI), located in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica announces its collaboration with Toucan Rescue Ranch (TRR) to begin a Sloth Release and Education Program at TRR to enhance its Sloth Release and Education Program. TRR’s release site is located in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, which is one-hour from their rescue center. This release site has 40 acres of rainf...

Wikimedia Commons University of Cambridge Media Release - Have humans underestimated the intelligence of birds? A new study suggests one species of bird - the great-tailed grackle - may be able to learn to adapt its behaviour when faced by new challenges. The research, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal today, is the first to test the cognitive abilities of great-tailed gra...

Bull shark. Wikimedia Commons MIAMI, June 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The most 'fintastic' time of the year is back and making a huge splash! LA SEMANA DEL TIBURÓN (#semanadeltiburon) returns in its 28th anniversary and will keep viewers on the edge of their seat with all-new jaw-dropping and compelling stories about everyone's favorite marine predator. Featuring new research from Mexico, Florida...

By Elisa Vasquez Panama, Jun 15 (EFE).- In Panama, "the first to disrespect nature are the officials appointed to defend it," according to Ligia Arreaga, an environmentalist engaged in activism for a decade on behalf of the rainforest of Darien that spreads across Panama's border with Colombia. The Central American country has "extraordinarily good" laws, what is lacking are decent officials...

Source: Zoo Ave (New York, NY) Animal Planet Presents will premiere TOUCAN NATION, the story of Grecia, the toucan in Costa Rica whose unconscionable abuse sparked international outrage and inspired a national animal welfare campaign, on August 2 at 10 PM ET /PT. Seeking to right a wrong and improve the life of this helpless bird after half of his beak was torn from his face, animal rescuers a...

Permacube Costa Rica San Isidro, Costa Rica - PermaCube Revolution is possibly the most practical solution to address the world’s food and water needs. Jim Gale, an eco community developer in Costa Rica, and his team have created a truly revolutionary system that assists with self reliance and abundance. The Permacube Revolution is open source so you can build it yourself, just sign up on ...

The 2011 World Naked Bike Ride in Brighton, UK.- Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Jun 11 (EFE).- Hundreds of bicyclists rolled into the streets Saturday, both in Mexico City and in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, to take part in the World Naked Bike Ride. Among the objectives of this 6th edition of the show-all ride was, first, to raise awareness about the environmental advantages of bicycles ove...

Bionovelus PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / June 9, 2016 / BioNovelus, Inc.  is pleased to announce the creation of BioNovelus-CostaRica, a legal entity that will register BioNovelus products for each country in Central America. The registration for Costa Rica should be achieved by the end of the third quarter of 2016. BioNovelus President/CEO Jean Ekobo has presented biodegradable fungicide CR-1...

Source: Fuerza Publica Los Angeles, CA -  Today, on World Oceans Day, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is proud to announce its latest campaign to defend, conserve and protect our oceans. The campaign, Operation Jairo II, will span three countries including the United States, Honduras and Costa Rica to protect endangered sea turtles. The launch comes on the heels of Sea Shepherd’s announce...

Bull shark. Wikimedia Commons (Los Angeles, Calif.) – The most fintastic time of the year is back and making a huge splash! SHARK WEEK, television’s longest-running and most anticipated summer event, airs Sunday, June 26 at 8:00 PM ET/PT and continues through Sunday, July 3.  This year, SHARK WEEK celebrates its 28th anniversary and will keep viewers on the edge of their seat with all-new jaw-...

Trash buildup and waste go uncollected in Playa Ocotal, Guanacaste, Costa Rica By Maria Jose Brenes San Jose, Jun 5 (EFE).- Activist Stuart Coleman, who led the effort to make Hawaii was the first U.S. state to eliminate using plastic bags in grocery stores, is emphasizing the need for greater efforts by civil society and the private sector to help "cure" the environment in Costa Rica and e...

Wikimedia Commons VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, May 31, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aloe vera extracts are gaining traction as an essential ingredient in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, with global volume to surpass 60,720.4 tonnes in 2016 end, representing revenues worth US$ 1.6 Bn, and one company in Costa Rica is a market leader in this sector. Demand for aloe vera extracts for manufacturing a...

Costa Rican environmentalist Jairo Mora was murdered in 2013. (ARCHIVE / Photo courtesy of WIDECAST) Sea Shepherd Conservation Society supporters Richard Dean Anderson and Holly Marie Combs are lending their names as producers on the company’s crowd-funded documentary feature Why Just One? The documentary follows Sea Shepherd's 2015 sea turtle defense campaign, Operation Jairo, which took p...

Source: MSP Officers from the National Coast Guard Service of Costa Rica rescued a school of juvenile sharks estimated to have been born only a few days before getting caught in an illegal fishing net. The rescue took place in the Pacific Ocean, specifically in the Abangares maritime sector of the Gulf of Nicoya, province of Guanacaste. According to an official press release issued by the M...

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) By Michele McDonald George Mason University researchers are on the front lines of Costa Rica’s defense against the Zika virus. Bordered by Panama and Nicaragua, the Central American country could be a natural laboratory for George Mason researchers, who have partnered with their counterparts at Co...